General AI

What is the point of having a General AI instead of highly-tuned(optimized) specialized software fit for the task?
I.e. the "human-like AI" vs domain-specific software

depends on what you mean by 'human-like'. I seet it as a spectrum. one practical benefit of human-like AI is that it might be able to solve problems as they arise, even if the programmer didn't anticipate them - but this only requires human-like learning capability and the ability to apply this knowledge to achieving a specific goal. this might or might not be enough to qualify as 'general AI'.

truly human-like sci fi mahcines with sentience, emotions and personalities would not be practical for solving any particular problems. they are more related to philosphy and theory of mind than engineering.